Homonyms are confusing enough, but there is another category of confusing words: contronyms. Contronyms—also spelled contranyms—are also known as auto-antonyms, antagonyms, enantiodromes, self-antonyms, antilogies, and Janus words. Janus was the Roman god of beginnings and endings. He is often depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions.
painting a room in a house, wikipedia
dabster
A dabster is one who is especially skilled at something; he is an expert. But a dabster is also a person who works in a superficial or clumsy manner; a bungler.
A dabster in criminal law, this attorney will make sure that what really happened is heard in court.
Do you really expect this bungler to do a good job of painting our house?
North Farallon Islands in the depthless ocean, wikipedia
depthless
If something is depthless, it is immeasurably deep. It is deep and profound beyond description. But something that is depthless can also be shallow or superficial
A depthless misery consumed me.
His depthless promises were never believed for long.
dust bunny, wikipedia
dust
Everyone should be familiar with this word. When you dust, are you removing fine, dry particles or are you applying them? If you dust the furniture, then you removing the fine, dry particles. If you dust crops, then you are applying fine, dry particles.
Laura’s obvious distaste for dusting the furniture meant her home was always full of dust.
An entire day was set aside for dusting the crops.
Pirate’s Grog Bottle, wikimedia commons
grog
Grog is a strong, undiluted alcoholic drink, but grog is also an alcoholic drink that has been diluted with water.
The grog served at the party left everyone drunk.
She drank grog before going to bed each evening.
salad days
Salad Days are not days when you eat only salad. They are the days of inexperience and youthful innocence. Salad Days are also times of great success.
Her salad days ended the moment she was attacked by the gang.
His business had been in operation for only six months when his salad days began.
apple seeds, wikimedia commons
seed
A seed is the fertilized, matured ovule of a flowering plant, containing an embryo or rudimentary plant.
When you seed the lawn or the garden, you add seeds to them. When you seed an apple, you remove the seeds from it.
The farmer waited for a clear day to seed the pasture.
Sheila knew she would have to seed the apple before using it for a pie.
honeycomb weathering of a cliff overhang, wikipedia
weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.
But weather also means other things.
If your company has weathered hard economic times, it has withstood or come through them. If the cliff is weathered, it has been eroded or worn away.
After weathering infidelity and loss of trust, their marriage is now stronger than ever.
The weathered mountainous terrain has transformed into a breathtaking canyon.
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